


Moondust

by SamaelVibes



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: AU, F/M, Literallyeveryone, More Tags As I continue, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, idontknowhowtotag, what are tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:47:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25194145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamaelVibes/pseuds/SamaelVibes
Summary: What would you give to live again? Would you trade your humanity? Or submit your body to unnatural changes? Some are not given a choice, for as we all know: Fate is a cruel mistress.Follow our story of a young man being faced with something, or someone, he could never understand unless he became one of them.
Relationships: Sebastian (Stardew Valley)/Original Female Character(s), Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley)





	Moondust

_A young woman of 21 winters stood at the edge of a snowy forest, an empty wicker basket hanging from her arms. She cautiously entered, a hand on each tree that she passed, marking them with her whittling knife so as to not become lost in the wilderness. Her master, the presiding healer of the small town, had asked her to go out and gather a rather rare herb only found deep within the forest. The young woman had no idea why she was sent out alone, typically all locals went out in teams of two in case one of them somehow got themselves injured. Shrugging her shoulders, the young woman treads through the snow-covered forest floor, being careful as to not scratch herself on the brambles and branches of the shrubbery. After a short while, she found the bush she had been looking for and set about pruning the leaves from the only green thing within the entire forest. Satisfied with the amount she had gathered, the young woman began to make her way back towards the town, humming a tune to pass the time. As she neared the edge of the forest, she overhears the town’s minister tell the militia to hunt her down and drag her to the town square. Upon hearing those words, the only thought in her head was ‘RUN!’, though she didn’t understand why._

_As she ran through the snowy forest of the town, heart pumping and lungs screaming at the exertion, her mind wandered in a vain hope of trying to understand why they were chasing her. The icy winter air stung at her eyes and throat, her breathing harsh and ragged. She was a nice, respectful young lady, why were they hunting her? The dress she wore snagged on the brambles and tore, slowing her down as she stumbled through thorny, snow-covered bushes. She can hear them gaining on her, the hunting hounds howling when they come across a fabric of her dress. Somewhere in her mind, she wonders why she was even running at all; she hated this stupid town and everyone in it. So what if she just so happened to reject the minister’s son’s hand in marriage? So what if she had politely told him that she was already betrothed to a man from her home town, as she was only visiting for a few years. During her inner monologue, a hand had clamped down on her arm, causing her to scream as she was dragged back through the woods, kicking and scratching at the men who’s hands were clamped around her arms and legs. As they neared the town center where a pyre was already lit, the woman’s screams became more and more feral and savage-like. They intended to burn her alive, those fuckers, over a simple rejection. When a hand clamped over her mouth, her wild sea green eyes stared, unfocused, at the faces of those who dragged her towards her death.  
“You have been accused of witchcraft and are sentenced to be burned at the stake. What say ye in your defense?” The owner of the hand covering her mouth asked of her._

_The woman stared at him, tears running down her face as she spoke after he removed his hand.  
“I swear to Yoba that I have not practiced witchcraft! Yoba as my witness, I have not done such things. Please, minister, your son is lying to you!”  
She sobbed and begged as she was dragged to an unburned platform above the pyre and tied to a pole that sat in the middle. The townsfolk gathered near the base of the fire, their faces lit just enough to make out their hatred towards the poor girl of just 21 winters. What had she done to deserve such hatred? Her frantic eyes zero in on the face of the minister’s son, who looked on with muted horror; was this not what he wanted? The minister’s monotone voice never reached the ears of the condemned as the flames grew higher, now engulfing the platform upon which she stood. Her throat felt raw as she screamed and screamed when the flames climbed her small body, singeing her skin and burning away her dress. The young woman stared out at the sky, watching with drooping eyes as a bright light descended from the heavens, coming closer and closer, glowing brighter and brighter as the flames reached her face. Her last thought before the light pierced her chest was if that light was her dying and ascending to Yoba’s kingdom._

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A young man sits in front of a computer screen, madly typing away on an LED keyboard, skimming for errors in his contractor’s code. Emerald eyes track the screen, searching for inconsistencies in the game’s software. The young man occasionally paused to flip his raven hair out of his eyes and take a chaste gulp of coffee that was on the verge of going cold. Black nails tapped on the wooden top of the desk, contemplating on if he should take a break or keep working. Deciding on the latter, he sighs and tests out his newly altered line of Jojascript. He makes the character on screen hit a few things, jump a few times and then tries to access the old glitch, satisfied that his patch worked perfectly. A lazy grin stretched over pale skin, a breakthrough at last; that tiny little error had taken him a better part of the day to rectify and he was ecstatic. So happy in fact, that he launches out of his chair and does a little jig to the beat of the music playing softly in the background. 

Happy, that is, until he hears his mother yell down to him from upstairs, “Sebastian! Come up here, please!”

Sebastian groans, shoulder’s slumping, “Why? I’m working!”

“Get up here, now!” Her tone indicating that it was important.

Rolling his eyes, Sebastian mounts the stairs leading up to the main level, grumbling about how no one ever respected his time when he was working. Why didn’t they ever go and bother his sister while she was working? As soon as he made it to the top and opened the door, Sebastian rounded the corner, only to knock into something about a foot shorter than him and far, far softer than himself as well. A small noise of surprise escapes his throat as he looks down to where a short girl sat back on her hands, sea green eyes dazed and unfocused. Robin, his mother, came around the same corner, frozen in shock at the scene before her, “What just happened?”

The small girl blinked rapidly as Sebastian’s face grew hot, “I didn’t see her there when I walked around the corner and knocked into her.” He rubbed the back of his head, looking off to the side in embarrassment. 

The girl attempted to stand then, almost falling over again if it wasn’t for Sebastian gripping her shoulders to still her, “Sorry about knocking you down…?”

She gives him a small, innocent smile and it makes his heart stop beating for a moment, “It’s quite alright. My name is Eden.” She leans her head to the side, “You’re Sebastian then, I take it?”

He gulps and nods, releasing her from his grip and shoving his hands into his pockets. Robin clears her throat and the two look to her, “Well, since you two have introduced yourselves, I don’t have to tell you each other’s names.” She gives Eden a smile,  
“Welcome to the Valley, it’s nice to know that someone is here to take care of that decrepit farm.”

Sebastian’s eyebrow quirks, “Wait, you’re the one that bought the farm and paid my mom to fix it up?”

Eden turns and smiles at him again, “Yeah, decided that I needed a change of scenery for once. Besides,” She turns to his mother once again, smile growing wider, “I had heard that you were the best carpenter to be found in these parts, so why not have  
you renovate the old farm house?” 

This time, his mother blushes scarlet and gave an embarrassed laugh, “I wouldn’t say I’m the best carpenter...”

Sebastian snorted, “Mom, you basically live and breathe woodworking! Whoever says your carpentry isn’t the best around obviously needs a reality check.”

“You’re only saying that because I’m your mother!” Robin laughs lightly at her son, green eyes crinkling around the edges.

“Says the one who built this entire house by herself.” Sebastian shot back, pointing a finger at his mother when she opened her mouth to comment back, “Ah ah. No denying it.”

Robin huffs and ruffles his hair, making him cry out in offense as he quickly fixes it with his fingers. He glares at her in good humor and turns around, “Anyway, I have to get back to work. Nice to meet you, Eden.” He looks over his shoulder at her.

“Nice to meet you as well, Sebastian. Fair weathers.” The way she said his name sent tremors down his spine.

Robin shows her out as he climbs down the stairs to his room, mind set on getting his work done before midnight. Once he reaches the bottom, he pauses for a moment and thinks back on his, ah, meeting with the new girl. What was her name again? Something with an E, he thinks. In any case, he trudges over to his desk and cracks his fingers, ready to set out on another 5 hours of grueling testing. His fingers type away at the keyboard, writing and rewriting lines of software, trying to make the game run smoother. After an hour or two, his eyes refuse to focus and forces him to sit back and rub his eyes. Maybe that’s enough work for today, he muses to himself and saves his current work before shutting down his computer and standing. With a groan he cracks his back and neck, annoyed that he had to stop when he was finally getting somewhere with yet another glitch in the game. Sebastian grabs his pack of cigarettes and lighter, shoving them into his pockets. 

He once again mounts the stairs and heads outside with a quick hello to his sister and mother. Sebastian walks over to the lake that sits by their house and props himself against a nearby tree. He pulls out a cigarette and moves to light it when he sees something move a bit further up. Pausing mid-strike, Sebastian’s eyes zero in on the pink-haired girl from earlier. He can just make out a gleaming pickaxe on her back in the light of the setting sun, her shadow elongated and twice her size stretched along the mountain side. His hand twitched and it flicked his lighter on, catching the end of his unlit cigarette and lighting it. The sudden light in the semi-darkness causes the girl to turn her head minutely, barely catching sight of Sebastian before heading into the ink-black darkness of the cave she once stood in front of. Sebastian takes a drag and wonders why she would go into the cave when the sun came down. His eyes narrow, thinking that- no, there’s no way the new girl is one of those monsters he’d seen on his trips down into the abandoned mine. 

Though, he muses to himself, it is strange that she showed up out of nowhere, talking the way she does. It could just be how they spoke where she came from. Sebastian shrugs his shoulders and takes another drag, watching as the fading light dances on the ripples in the lake. As the sunlight finally fades away and the light of the moon casts it’s soft light upon the valley, Sebastian’s eyes move up to look at the cave, a sudden feeling of dread in his stomach the longer he stares. He quickly finishes his cigarette and heads back to his house, checking over his shoulder periodically. It felt like there was something watching him as he retreated and it sent chills down his spine. A rustling in the bushes to his right makes him jump, arms up and hands balled up into fists. He should have brought his knife with him, doesn’t remember why he didn’t grab it. Idiot! 

Sebastian’s about to send out a, hopefully, menacing ‘Come out!’ but it dies in his throat when the girl from earlier stumbles through the bushes and nearly trips over a large rock. Her hands rest on her knees as she breathes somewhat erratically, a faint light glowing around her. Sebastian’s eyes narrow and he takes a step back, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something, there, new girl.”

Eden’s head snaps up, a glint in her eyes, “Oh!” Her eyes clear and she’s all smiles, “Hello, Sebastian!” She stands fully now, dusting off her jeans and giving him a small smile that rips open a split in her top lip. She flinches slightly, dabbing at the tear with her tongue, “What are you doing out so late?” She asks him, perplexed.

Sebastian has to stop himself from ignoring her and walking inside, “I was out for a smoke by the lake and, by the way, I should be asking you that, seeing as you just appeared out of nowhere.” 

Eden huffs at him, and the light around her dims slightly, “I wanted to see what the old mines had to offer. I had a conversation with Clint and he told me that there was ore in the mines, so I wanted to explore it myself. I got down to about the fourth or fifth level before a small, green thing hopped towards me and seared a hole in my jeans.” She gestured to the area of damage on her calf.

Sebastian’s eye twitched, “You should get that looked at by the doctor.” Eden stuck her tongue out at him, “Anyway, it’s late and I have work to do. See you.” With that, rather rude departure, he opens the door to his house and shuts it, throwing the deadbolt home.

Was that unnecessary? Yes. Did he care? No. Sebastian hated talking to people he didn’t know and he sure as hell wasn’t going to change that now. He made his way down to his room and sat down heavily in his computer chair, contemplating on going back to work. With a glance at his phone and a groan at the time, 1:20am, he decides that he’s going to work more when he gets up. Trudging over to his bed, Sebastian strips off his hoodie, shirt, and pants before sliding into his bed and turning off the lamp behind his bed. The last thing he thinks about before sleep takes him, is how strange that new girl is.

_At first, it was dark, almost as black as the abyss. He felt cold, as if winter had set in and he wasn’t dressed for it. Then came the light, slowly at first, as if he was blinking in the light of the rising sun. The light gained intensity, and with it came heat, a heat so hot it felt like he was burning. He looks around himself, seeing whitish grey around his feet. Curious, he knelt down to touch it and it disappeared at his fingers, smudging them with a dark grey soot. Alarmed, he looked up, only now seeing the raging fire ahead of him. He takes a step back, panicking as he realizes that the forest that surrounded his home was on fire. His eyes zeroed in on a, seemingly fire-free, patch of grass where a girl was. She sat upon her knees, palms up on her legs as she stared up at the sky. He approaches her, afraid for her safety. Feet crunching through ashes and arriving a foot or so before the ring of fire around the girl who still sat statuette, though her head now leveled to look upon him. He could now make out tear stains on her pallor face, the light of the roaring fire hollowing her cheeks and casting a haunting glow upon her. His hand outstretched, his mouth opening to call out, when she let out an ear-piercing scream, light emitting from her mouth and eyes as her head fell back to once again gaze at the orange-tinted sky._

Sebastian awoke with a start at the pounding on his bedroom door, each knock knocking away the remains of his dream, leaving him with an odd sense of dread. With an annoyed groan, he yells, “What?!” Into the air of his room, annoyed at being woken up so damn early. He glances at his clock just as the offender answers and it glared it’s 12:30pm right back at him.

“Sebastian Ethan! That nice girl is back and so is Sam and Abigail! Get your ass up already!” Came the call of his mother.

“Nice… Girl..?” He mutters to himself before replying, “Give me a minute!” 

Sebastian heaves himself out of bed, grumbling as he pulled on a pair of flannel pj pants and a graphic tee. He trudges over to his mirror and hastily brushes down his bedhead and, with a sigh of resignation, trudges up the stairs to open his bedroom door. He shuffles into the kitchen where he was met with four different colored heads, one of red, one of blond, one of purple (that still hasn’t faded after the color being put in nearly a year ago at this point), and a new one of pink. The redhead turns around, and holds out a cup of coffee for him, “Black, just like you always get it, hun.” His mother smiles at him.

“So the dead rises! Welcome to the land of the living, bro!” His overly cheerful friend, Sam, cheers and fist-pumps the air. 

Sebastian gives a half-hearted wave and takes a drink of his coffee, sighing when a drop of the caffeinated drink touched his cold, black soul. Emerald eyes lock onto sea green, widening, “Oh. You’re back.” He takes another sip as he gives a nod of greeting towards Abigail.

The girl blushes, dropping her head to look at her hands while Sam and Abigail comically lean to look at her, “You said you hadn’t met Seb yet, Eden, you liar!” They jest in unison, cracking smiles and laughing.

“I said I didn’t recall the name, not that we hadn’t met.” The girl, Eden, grumbles and sticks out her tongue. 

“Yeah she came by yesterday, I think, and left soon after meeting me.” He takes a casual sip of his coffee, “I wasn’t offended, most people run screaming.”

Eden looks at him out of the corner of her eye, opening her mouth to say something when Robin butted in, “Oh! I forgot to ask you three if you wanted anything to drink!”

Sam nods enthusiastically, not unlike a dog wagging it’s tail, “Sure! Juice is fine.”

“Just a water for me, please.” Abigail replies, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

Eden contemplates for a moment, “Is there any coffee left?”

“Yes, would you like some?” His mom asks sweetly.

“Please? But I’d like to add the sugar and cream myself, if that’s okay.” Eden asks in kind, twirling a lock of hair between two fingers.

“Sure thing!” Robin then set about making the drinks, setting Eden’s coffee, creamer, and sugar in front of her and the others their drinks as Sebastian took another drink of his coffee.

“What brings you guys over anyways?” He asks, watching Eden as she practically dumps five tablespoons of sugar into her drink and turning the coffee nearly white with the vanilla creamer. His eyes widen minutely.

Sam throws an arm around Eden and Abigail, grinning from ear to ear, “We came by to grab you for some practice, my dude!” 

Abigail, whom had also been watching Eden, snickers at her, “Hey, Eden, how do you like your coffee?”

Eden, without making eye-contact, answers while taking a sip, “Sweet and milky white, or dark and bitter depending on how I feel.”

Sebastian saw the look in Abigail’s eyes, but was too late to interject in time, “Just like Sebastian then, huh?”

Eden chokes on her coffee, sputtering and coughing as she pounds her fist on the table, an exasperated ‘Abigail!’ leaving Sam, Robin and Sebastian at the same time. After calming down, Eden shot Abigail a look of mirth, “The milky white and dark are the only things I know about Sebastian, Abigail.”

Abigail snickers, “Okay, okay haha.” She turns to Sebastian, “We wanted to see if you would come practice with us. Eden said she knows how to play the piano and we’re trying to talk her into being our singer.”

At this, Sebastian heaves a sigh and downs the rest of his coffee, “We’ll see how it goes. Let me get ready and we can head over to Sam’s.” Sebastian walks around Eden to head back to his room.

Said girl calls out to him, “W-We’re actually going to my house, but we can talk after you’re ready.” 

Sebastian shrugs his shoulders and continues down to his room where he stops and sighs, shoulders drooping in defeat. Man, he really hates going outside. With another sigh, he shuffles over to his dresser and shucks off his night pants and pulls on a pair of black jeans, a pair of socks and his jacket before heading over to the bathroom to brush his hair and teeth. He contemplates to himself as he stares in the mirror about why his friends want to add the girl into their band. It’s not like they practice a lot anyway. He exists the bathroom and walks into the kitchen to find the pink haired girl missing, “Hey. Where’d she go?”

“Who, Eden?” Sam asks, looking up to his friend for confirmation. At Sebastian’s nod, he continues, “She stepped outside for a moment, don’t know why though.”

Sebastian inclines his head, “Well, I’m ready so let’s go.”

Abigail stands and walks over to him, a hand on his arm, “I’d follow you anywhere.” 

Sebastian makes a face and shakes off her arm, “A mistake, honestly.” With that, he turns and walks away and steps outside.

Eden stood off to the side, puffs of smoke billowing around her and Sebastian is frozen to the spot, his heart racing and his palms beginning to sweat, but the feeling disappears as soon as it came, allowing him to walk over to her, “Hey, we’re ready to leave when you are.”

Eden turns, a cigarette between her lips and a look of confusion on her face before it clears and her eyes are lighting up, “Alright, my house isn’t too far away.” Eden then takes a drag and flicks the bud away from herself as she blows the smoke out of her nose.

Sebastian nods as he hears his friends’ chatter behind him, “Let’s get this show on the road!” Cheers Sam as he hooks his arm through Sebastian’s and drags him along as Eden walks towards her home.

As he stumbles along, Sebastian cannot help but watch Eden as she walks, her steps graceful and light. Her feet barely disturbing the grass and rocks beneath them, reminding him of a ballerina's steps. She turns her head to look at him, a small smile on her plush lips and she cheekily sticks out her tongue, a flash of glinting metal before returning it to her mouth. Sebastian blinks at her and turns his attention to yanking his arm away from Sam’s grip and muttering to himself about how he can walk on his own, thank you very much. The four of them round a corner and there before them stood a two story colonial styled, light grey house. A cobblestone walkway lead up to the steps of the porch, lit by steel street lamps. Eden turns then, her hands behind her back and kicking a foot on the cobbles shyly, “Well, here we are.”

Sebastian’s eyes stay on her, having already seen the house as his mother built it. Emerald eyes track the way she moves, how she bites at her lip as Sam and Abigail fawn over her home, how her eyes dart up to look at him before looking away and how her cheeks blaze a rosy red. Sebastian turns his head to look out on her farm, noticing that she had a few fields plowed and sowed with little signs in front of each row, stating what was planted there. He also notices a coop a few meters away from her house with a small picketed fence around it, keeping the inhabitants enclosed. Sebastian turns back just as Eden gestures for them to follow her, “Come on in, I’ll show you were I keep my piano.” 

Sam whoops and jumps up the stairs leading to her porch while Abigail laughs and follows him up. Sebastian trails behind Eden, taking the steps two at a time. When they reach her door, she pauses before opening it, “Be warned, I have a rottweiler named Fenris and he is a beast of a dog.” She turns her head to shoot them a beaming smile, “But he’s a good boy, so he won’t hurt you.”

Steeling themselves for the reveal of her dog, Eden opens her door and leaves it wide, calling out into her dim house, “Fenris! C’mere boy! Mamma's home!”

The tak-tak-tak of claws on hardwood floors increases in volume, then turns into pounding and deep barks that resonate in their chests as Eden’s rottweiler bounds towards them, launching himself at the short girl and nearly toppling her over. She laughs and pushes his massive head away from her own after being bathed with his tongue, “Eeewww, Fenris! You silly boy! I wasn’t gone long!” She cheerfully exclaims in a baby-talk voice to her dog.

Abigail lets out a squeal of excitement and falls to her knees in front of the massive animal, her hands flying over his coat and petting him furiously, cooing at him. Sam, seeing how much fun the other two were having, joins in himself, scratching under the dog’s chin and making kissy noises. Sebastian sighed and gave the gentle giant a pat on the head when the other three let up on him. Eden began to walk inside, snapping her fingers to get Fenris’ attention, and lead the trio through her massive house. Sam and Abigail looked around in wonder at the vaulted ceilings, the black marble flooring of the kitchen and, once they reached the great room, all three of their mouths opened in shock at the sight in front of them. There, in the middle of the room upon a white circular rug, was a sleek, black grand piano. Eden took slow steps towards it, her fingers dancing in the air to a song in her head. Sebastian could only look upon in awe as she opened the top of the piano to reveal an all-white interior, complete with white crushed velvet lining the sides of the inside of the piano. The keys were inverted, a glittering ebony where ivory was traditionally used, and ivory in exchange of ebony.

Eden sat regally on the stool and placed her delicate fingers upon the keys, “You can sit on the couch that’s on the other side if you wish.” She offered, shaking out her hair.

The trio shuffled over to the aforementioned white leather couch and made themselves comfortable. Sebastian propped his chin upon his fist and watched as Eden took a breath and began to play. The notes started off dark and deep, their sound echoing across the vast expanse of the room. She plays with her head thrown back and eyes closed, allowing the music to flow through her. As the song beings to pick up, her fingers fly across the keys, striking with incredible accuracy and conviction. Her shoulders hunch in on themselves as the song grows darker and her fingers pick up speed, her head dropping, allowing her hair to form a pink curtain around her face. Sebastian, in complete awe, had nothing to say except for standing and clapping when the song came to a close. Sam and Abigail follow suit, adding whoops and whistles all the while.  
Eden shyly twirls a strand of hair between her fingers, “It was the first song that came to mind, I haven’t really played it in a while.”

“’Haven’t played in a while’??? That was amazing, Eden!” Abigail states in a shocked tone.

“Yeah, man! Like, that was wicked! I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere before, though.” Sam scratches the back of his head in contemplation about what the name of the song was.

Sebastian approached her, “That really was cool, Eden.” Emerald eyes lock with sea green and they quickly look away as a rosy blush blooms across her cheeks and nose, “Do you know any other songs?”

“I, um, know a few. Mostly old, classical music.” Eden speaks low, making it hard for him to hear her, but he catches it anyway.

“Please, play another, if you want to.” Sebastian motions to the piano, “Or I could play a song for you, wait, not for you, but like, for you to see how I play.” Good one Seb, fuckin’ smooth recovery there bud.

Eden covers her mouth with her hand as she giggles at his awkwardly worded question, “Sure, Sebastian,” Yoba, the way she pronounced his name gave him chills, “What are you going to play?” She asks as she scoots over on the stool to make way for him to sit beside her.

“I think you’ll know when I start playing.” He jokes with her, “If you want to play along you can, I’ll be doing a lower key.” 

Sebastian began to play, Sam and Abigail going quiet as they watch on in confusion as Sebastian’s fingers begin to flit across the keys. After a moment or two, as the song begins to pick up speed, Eden’s hands join in the fray, playing to the same tune but higher, more delicate notes compared to the dark, heavy notes of Sebastian. The blond and the purple haired friends sit back down harshly, eyes transfixed on the other two as they play in tandem with each other. Sebastian and Eden’s hands slow down, entering a new section of notes and their hands touch briefly, going largely ignored by the two as they continue to play the enchanting song. Slowly but surely, the song begins to slow further, notes dragging in the air, their power reverberating in their chests. 

With a sigh, Sebastian lets up on the keys and gives his knuckles a crack as Eden turns to him with a wide smile, “Not a lot of people appreciated him where I came from, it’s nice to know someone here does, at least.”

After an hour or so of Sebastian and Eden showing off their piano skills (and playing meme music on it as well), the topic of conversation moved from music. The four of them sat at her dining room table, taking up merely a quarter of the massive piece of black marble, cracking jokes and playful banter. Eden stood and cracked her back, “Would you guys like anything to drink?”

Sam and Abigail shake their heads ‘no’. “We should actually start heading back, our parents might need us to help with some things to prepare for the upcoming festival.” Eden nods in understanding and sees them out the door. 

Eden turns to Sebastian then, her bright sea-green eyes staring up at his eyes of emerald, “Well, I guess that leaves our coffee then, huh?” She gives him a cheeky smile.

Sebastian gives a slight chuckle, “You haven’t even known me a day and you already know my preferred drink. If you were anyone else, I’d have been worried.” He follows her back to the kitchen and rests his elbows on the black marble counter, watching her as she flits about her kitchen.

Eden shoots him a look of glee as she sets out the products needed to make coffee, “Well it was the first thing your mom offered you this morning. I’d be a terrible neighbor if I didn’t remember that, now wouldn’t I?” She asks as she sets her kettle to boil on the range. 

Sebastian snorts, eyes tracking her around, taking in every little detail about her for reasons unknown to himself, “My blood is practically made of the stuff by now.” He states as she pulls the whistling kettle from the burner. Emerald eyes widen as pale hands begin to gently pour boiling water over the dark coffee grounds, “Wait, what are you doing?”

Eden pauses, looking over to him under her pale pink bangs, “I’m hand-pressing the coffee. Have you never watched someone do this?” At his head shake, she beckons him over, “My late friend gifted me this set a few months before his passing. It became my passion for a few years in his memory.” 

Her eyes were lost in the past and before he could stop himself, he asks, “What happened to him? Your friend?” 

Eden’s eyes snap shut and the kettle slips from her grip, almost tumbling to the floor had it not had been for Sebastian, reaching out to catch the kettle, hands wrapping around the still-hot base. With a loud curse, he drops the kettle onto the counter and flings his hands in the air, trying to cool them down. Eden makes a noise of surprise and sprints into another room, returning with a first aid box and a bottle of a dark blue cream. Small hands sift through the box and then grabs his own and drags him over to the sink, turning the cold water on full bast and shoving his hands under the water. 

“Yoba! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t expecting you to ask that! I’m so stupid, are you okay?!” Eden asks in a high tone of worry as she pours the dark blue elixir over his hands. The burning and pain go away almost instantly, much to Sebastian’s relief. 

Without much success at getting her to calm down as she works on his hands, Sebastian huffs and grabs her face with his, now mostly healed, hands and states, “Eden, calm down, I’m fine.”

As those words leave his mouth, his vision darkens.

_White, that’s all he sees before his eyes focus and he can see dead trees and bushes covered in a fresh layer of snow. He looks around, confused, and catches sight of dark brown hair and humming. He slowly walks over, his feet not making a sound, nor disturbing the snow beneath him. The girl’s head turns to regard him and his heart drops. She looks like Eden. The scene shifts as she stands and the Eden-copy is running away now, dress in tatters. Sebastian takes off after her, trying to call out, but the only sound he hears is distant howling._

When his vision clears, he notices that he’s prone and covered in blankets. He slowly turns his head and catches sight of Eden pacing, her hands running through her hair as she mutters to herself, “Fuck, that was stupid of me. It happened before with Daniel, why didn’t I remember before? How careless! I hope he didn’t see--” She turns dramatically on her heel and notices that his eyes were open and watching her, “Bastian!”

She flits to his side and drops to her knees, hand hovering over his jaw, not close enough to touch, but close enough that he swears that her skin was like fire, “H-How long was I out for?” His throat is dry and uncomfortable. 

“Three hours.” She mutters, eyes downcast and brows furrowed in thought. 

“What happened?” She doesn’t look at him, moving to stand, and his hand reaches out to grasp at hers, sudden determination in his emerald eyes, “Eden, tell me, what happened?”

She looks at their hands and then back to his eyes, conflict evident in hers before she takes a breath and sits down by his head, “I don’t think you’ll believe me, Sebastian.” She looks down at him, her hand smoothing over his hair, “Tell me what you saw first, I need to know.”

He closes his eyes and lets out a breath, “I… I was in a forest. It was snowing, and there was a girl, she looked like you. She was gathering something. Then… Then it got darker, she started running and there was howling. That’s all I saw.” Her hands stuttered in his hair, he could feel her breath catch in her throat.

“Sebastian… I’m not sure if you’d believe me if I told you without showing you something first.” Eden stood slowly, holding her hand out for him to take, “You have to trust me on this.” He looked at her and nodded, swallowing as he stood.

She lead him outside, behind her house and into a stone building that he doesn’t remember his mother building when she was contracted by Eden. The sun was just starting to set, the crickets singing out into the dusk as Eden lifts a key to the door and unlocks it, opening the door and ushering him inside. Sebastian looks around the room, noting the ritual circle and candles surrounding it. Various books strewn about, many of which in a language he couldn’t understand, open to images of stones and lights. He turns to look at her and notices that her back is turned to him and her shirt is halfway off, “Uh, wh-what are you doing?” His face is burning and his hands start to sweat but he can’t bring himself to look away as she turns around slowly and his emerald eyes widen when they land on a gem embedded in her chest, nestled between her breasts. “What the…”

Eden takes a breath and the gem glows, pulsing outwards like it’s alive as orange-tinted veins spider out from the gem. He looks up at her, alarmed, and backs up when he sees her eyes glow the same orange as the gem. She raises her hand, stretching it towards him as her voice comes out softly, “Please, don’t be afraid. I… I can’t bring myself to hurt you.” Her eyes are pleading with him as she moves to stand in the ritual circle, never breaking eye-contact with him.

Sebastian’s body is torn between his heart and mind, one screaming at him to run away and the other pleading for him to stay (though that might be his sudden arousal talking). He watches in awe as she takes a deep breath, the gem glowing brightly as the skin around it starts to turn black, like cooling magma, spreading across her body. Heat began to waft towards him, stifling his breath. Eden’s eyes flutter softly and her breathing evens out as the transformation is completed, her clothes burnt away but her modesty remained intact from the magma swirling around her body. “What… What _are_ you?”

Her foot kicks the floor shyly, “I’m an Eternal. That vision you saw, that was me before this,” She gestures to her body, “Happened. I can understand if you have questions, I’ll answer them as accurately as I can. I also understand that you’re… afraid of me… I can, uh, smell it.” Her orange eyes flick from his face to his jeans and back up, the magma around her cheeks burning blue-white instead of the orangeish yellow of her body. 

His body stiffens, realization creeping into his mind, she can smell his arousal, his mind fizzles to a halt as his face burns brightly and his breath catches in his throat, battling the urge to put his hands in front of his crotch, “I-I’ve read about your kind before, though nothing ever stated anything about a Fire Eternal.” 

She nods, closing her eyes as the magma stops moving and begins to cool, flaking off to reveal new skin. She turns from him, grabbing onto a robe that sat beside the circle and placing it around her body as the rest of the cooled magma drops from her form. She turns back around, tying the rope around her middle and gently eases herself onto a nearby chair, a pained look on her face as she does so, “Sorry, doing that without releasing completely drains me.” She turns her head to regard him, eyes lidded, “I’m the first there ever was. I sought out the others, pulled to their unique energies throughout the ages. Some had just been turned as soon as I got there, others, well, I had to wait a while for them to be born and grow before watching them die and leading them in their new life.” Eden runs a hand down her face, yawning.

Sebastian makes a noise of understanding, shifting to the side, still painfully aware of the tightness of his pants, “Is that the reason why you came here of all places? Do you feel a pull to anyone here in particular?” Jean clad legs decide that sitting is a lot better than standing right now, so he plops onto the ground, cheeks still burning in embarrassment.

Eden looks conflicted, her eyes darting around the room, refusing to look him in the eye when she whispers, “Its…” A sharp ringing cuts through the air from a phone on the desk to her left and Eden jolts to grab it. She takes a breath before answering, “Hello? Yes, this is she.” A moment of silence passes, “Are you sure? I haven’t felt any other energy signatures except for where I am now.” She frowns, “Alright. Tell the others, we meet at my location and head out to the signature in a fortnight.” A growl rips through her throat, making Sebastian jump on his spot on the ground, emerald eyes wide as they stare at her, “No one is to go near him, do you understand me? They cannot interfere with fate and neither can I! No! I don’t give two shits what she thinks! I’m the oldest of all of us, BJ, I know what’s best! Tell that nymph to keep her hands to herself, lest she gets burned.” Eden shoves the receiver down onto its holster and blows steam from her nostrils.

Sebastian stands slowly, hands out and in a peaceful gesture, “Eden? Is everything okay?”

Her head snaps to him and he can see orange creeping into the sclera of her eyes, “There’s been an energy spike to the west, the others will be here in three days and we will set out to bring the new one into this world we live in.” Her hands ball into fists, “The Earth Eternal thinks she can just take what isn’t hers to begin with! She knows our rules! She knows what He has planned for us!” A blackening fist connects with the stone wall beside it, “ _ **She can’t take what is mine again! I won’t let her!**_ ” 

Before he could register what had happened, Sebastian found himself standing in front of the transformed Eden, arms wrapped around her and crushing her to him, flinching at the heat that threatened to burn him alive. But he never wavered in his hold on her. Sucking in breaths to distract himself, he began to gently, oh, so gently, run his hand through her hair, air hissing between his teeth as his fingers got burnt. Still, he pressed on, slowly sinking to the floor with her as her colors changed from red-orange to a colder blue. Orange-blue eyes blinked up at him, her mouth moving to softly coo at him, molding her body to his, her gem sparking against his exposed chest, washing him in a cool sensation. Sebastian watched in awe as his burns healed almost instantly, emerald eyes gleaming in wonder as the magma that made her skin fell off in sheets, revealing the pale skin beneath. 

The two stayed like that until Eden had calmed down, her face pressed into Sebastian’s chest, her body shuddering with every breath. Sebastian kept on petting her hair, trying in vain to not think about the fact that they were both practically naked; the only piece of clothing that remained between their sexes was his badly singed underwear. Eden shifts on his lap, brushing against him and causing him to inhale sharply through his nose. She freezes, pulling back sightly, her nostrils flared and her cheeks a fiery red, “Sh-Should I move? I just- I don’t- I’ve never-” 

Sebastian hesitantly pressed his lips to hers, softly silencing her nervous rambling. She tasted like smoke and, strangely, mint. His hands, seeming to have minds of their own, travel down her sides, coming to a rest on either side of her thighs. A soft, nearly inaudible noise comes from her throat and it makes his heart stutter and his barely clothed cock twitch, pulling a whine from her. Eden’s hands slide up to his hair to grasp it, gently tugging as they explored each other’s mouths. Sebastian pulls away, his mind at war with itself, desperate with need but very, very afraid of doing the deed with someone he just met. Eden senses his hesitation, gently unwrapping herself from him and slowly pulling away, shyly covering her exposed breasts. A lump forms in his throat, “Ede-”

“Close your eyes, Sebastian.” Came her voice, so soft and so, so full of pain. 

Sebastian slowly obeys, worry etched into his brow. His world now a pin-point of white light, he feels a small hand gently caress his face, “What are you-” His voice gets caught in his throat as he feels his body begin to rise on its own, “E-Eden?”

Her voice came, thick with tears, “Sebastian, do you trust me?”

Without hesitation, he sputters, “Yes, Eden, I do! Now please tell me what’s going on!”

Sebastian’s breath catches in his throat as his body grew incredibly warm, almost uncomfortably so. Sebastian so desperately wanted to open his eyes, his voice a warbling call, “Eden!” But his voice sounds far off and muffled, his mind dimming and images of Eden in her full Eternal glory began to flash before his closed lids, each shifting and altering to her in alabaster dresses and dark, dragging cloaks. He could just barely make out the sounds of soft sobbing as all else ceased to exist.


End file.
